I don’t get a “Halloween” vibe from this maze at all... seems like an odd choice to announce last (if this happens to be the actual third maze). Not sure how I feel about this one.
Howl-O-Scream 2018
- Thread starter Zachary
- Start date
It reminds me of Undead Arena: Live at Busch Gardens Tampa. That house was so unpopular that it only lasted one season. I hope we don't have anything like that. How are they going to make this maze scary if any of the characters appear "welcoming?"
I am still very excited about this maze, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a rehash of Deadline. Hopefully, they are more creative about it than they were with converting Curse of Pompeii to Revenge of Pompeii. The only difference was the characters.
I am still very excited about this maze, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a rehash of Deadline. Hopefully, they are more creative about it than they were with converting Curse of Pompeii to Revenge of Pompeii. The only difference was the characters.
That Howl-O-Screan shirt is one of my biggest pet peeves from the last couple years. They sold it at BGW, but it was a BGT design (hence the established date error).
Ooooooh. The “Witching Hour” sounds like an “Overlord’s Resurrection” type of show. That would be really cool to see happen at the park each night that it opens. It might also cut down maze lines near 6pm each night, I know they were pretty long last year when I attended due to a lack of an opening ceremony type of thing.
As for the bars, I never drink at Halloween events, but those seem like cool additions for those who do.
I never paid attention to the bars last season when I went: are there monsters serving you at the bars? It would be cool to see Jack in an area that is not pay-to-play like a No Escape room.
As for the bars, I never drink at Halloween events, but those seem like cool additions for those who do.
I never paid attention to the bars last season when I went: are there monsters serving you at the bars? It would be cool to see Jack in an area that is not pay-to-play like a No Escape room.
"The Witching Hour" is so much of a throwback to the 2009 announcement that I can't possibly ignore it. Come to think of it: this entire season screams "2009" to me. That was the year the park had all new mazes even though they were highly recycled. With the debut of Bitten and Catacombs, it's still one of my favorite years in the history of the event, followed closely by 2011 which brought back scare zones and introduced Deadline and Fear Fair. This year I also worry that they will produce a bit more than they can comfortably handle, but it still might be well worth it.
By the way, here is a full transcript of the 2009 announcement (the best ever). They also use the terms "witching hour" and "the scare is everywhere."
By the way, here is a full transcript of the 2009 announcement (the best ever). They also use the terms "witching hour" and "the scare is everywhere."
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I’m sorry, but this blurb is pure gibberish.
There is a bar in Rhinefeld and another one in “Germany?” Why on earth would they choose to call Oktoberfest “Germany?” Of the two German hamlets, Rhinefeld is the less well-known.
And then there is this string of essentially unrelated phrases: “The scare is everywhere at this kickoff event happening nightly in Germany.” Yes, I believe I know what they meant to say, but it appears that they wrote something in English; translated it into Farsi; and then used a Google Translater to get it back into English again.
Since it's to cast members and not written by marketing it doesn't surprise me. Pretty much all of the employees didn't know what I meant when I said Aquitane today. Granted I probably should've stepped off my high horse and just said France.
Never leave your high horse! Stay strong! Hamlet names are the only names that matter!
The leaks that Equinox posted have resulted in no more emails going out to scare squad members about the event. Not like it matters at this rate since the announcement is tomorrow, but can we get an F.
@Equinox played this perfectly in my opinion. There's nothing more for BGW to publish about the event after tomorrow. There's absolutely no incentive not to dump everything in the last batch of info into the public arena early.
For what it's worth, I've actually been really concerned about "printing" any of the info in the newsletters lately because I've been expecting the park to use it to "leak" misinformation in hopes that it would be reported on.
On a related note, BGW's "outrage" about this stuff leaking is legitimately absurd. If they send information out to hourly employees, it's going to leak. That is just a simple, obvious fact.
Does BGW seriously think we don't get all of this stuff? Maybe they just assume we publish everything we receive? Regardless... ?
If only they knew what's sitting on my hard drive right now...
For what it's worth, I've actually been really concerned about "printing" any of the info in the newsletters lately because I've been expecting the park to use it to "leak" misinformation in hopes that it would be reported on.
On a related note, BGW's "outrage" about this stuff leaking is legitimately absurd. If they send information out to hourly employees, it's going to leak. That is just a simple, obvious fact.
Does BGW seriously think we don't get all of this stuff? Maybe they just assume we publish everything we receive? Regardless... ?
If only they knew what's sitting on my hard drive right now...
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It’s the security logs for the robotic deer I’m telling ya.
I don’t wanna stray too far off-topic, but I feel that unless a park specifically tells its employees not to spread the info (not sure what BGW told the Scare actors), the park should assume it will be leaked. The lack of clarity on the park’s part is the park’s fault, not the Scare actors’s fault.
I think taking away the incentive of returning Scare actors knowing the stuff early sucks, given the circumstances. I say that the park should clear up any confusion regarding their policies on “leaking”, and then if someone leaks it again, THEN take away the perk.
That being said, the newsletter did look super unprofessional.
I was surprised to find out that scare actors got to find out about the new stuff early. I think that made sense as a perk when it was small scale but that probably should've stopped a while ago. They don't want leaks, and that perk causes leaks. Seems like a no brainer not to have that perk.
Don't think they should be outraged though. That's a little absurd.
Don't think they should be outraged though. That's a little absurd.
I know other parks do the same thing, I just didn’t know Busch gave that same perk until a few days ago. It’s done mainly for casting purposes; I know they do it at KD so returning monsters know if their location has been axed so they can try out for another location and so returning monsters get first dibs at the new locations.
EDIT: It sounds like Busch’s version of the perk isn’t done for casting reasons... so honestly, it doesn’t seem as needed on their part.
There are new banners on the Germany/Italy bridge for Howl-O-Scream (I don't have pictures because I haven't been there myself yet. I just saw it somewhere else.)
It looks like the Grimm Reaper will be one of the returning icons. He was the original HOS icon but wasn't very popular. Aside from them only having the one statue, it's hard to have him wandering around like Jack or Scarlett. I think it's funny that I guessed a while ago that he would be an icon but I thought the idea was too far-fetched to be true.
It looks like the Grimm Reaper will be one of the returning icons. He was the original HOS icon but wasn't very popular. Aside from them only having the one statue, it's hard to have him wandering around like Jack or Scarlett. I think it's funny that I guessed a while ago that he would be an icon but I thought the idea was too far-fetched to be true.
In the past BGW has not told actors anything ahead of time other than the "cost centers" of the locations they'll be working.
For some reason, this season, someone decided that it made sense for Ent to provide each announcement to the actors a couple days early. Then, they have been furious that there have been leaks. It is just silly. Anyone with a brain could have told them it would happen. It was truly inevitable.
I don't know if the person who made this decision is new or inexperienced or what, but they should just accepted that this is BGW and at BGW, damn near everything leaks. Get used to it. Hell, start trying to embrace it. Hype is never a bad thing for your event.
For some reason, this season, someone decided that it made sense for Ent to provide each announcement to the actors a couple days early. Then, they have been furious that there have been leaks. It is just silly. Anyone with a brain could have told them it would happen. It was truly inevitable.
I don't know if the person who made this decision is new or inexperienced or what, but they should just accepted that this is BGW and at BGW, damn near everything leaks. Get used to it. Hell, start trying to embrace it. Hype is never a bad thing for your event.
I'm double-posting because I find this really irritating.
Sharing news to actors a couple days early had the potential to be a really interesting whisper campaign if they had been smart about it. Instead of sharing everything, they could have shared a piece of concept art from the house and a description of its theme knowing that said news would leak.
Said leak would have, in turn, drummed up interest for their regularly scheduled HOS announcements—something that has been SEVERELY lacking this reveal season.
Ent is being petty and childish by lashing out at their casts for something that just doesn't matter at all, but that is only part of the problem here in my opinion.
This HOS reveal season has felt sad and lifeless (in a bad way). The park announces names and short descriptions of houses without any other content at all. The current marketing team needs to look back 10 years or so to see how it was done in days gone by.
Why doesn't each house reveal come with a video from someone in the department standing in front of a finished set in the house talking about the attraction? Why haven't we seen any concept art or scenic samples out of the park to provide some texture and depth to these attractions we are supposed to be interested in?
The method we saw employed this year has made these unveilings seem like chores. I sincerely hope BGW marketing reevaluates this strategy moving forward.
Sharing news to actors a couple days early had the potential to be a really interesting whisper campaign if they had been smart about it. Instead of sharing everything, they could have shared a piece of concept art from the house and a description of its theme knowing that said news would leak.
Said leak would have, in turn, drummed up interest for their regularly scheduled HOS announcements—something that has been SEVERELY lacking this reveal season.
Ent is being petty and childish by lashing out at their casts for something that just doesn't matter at all, but that is only part of the problem here in my opinion.
This HOS reveal season has felt sad and lifeless (in a bad way). The park announces names and short descriptions of houses without any other content at all. The current marketing team needs to look back 10 years or so to see how it was done in days gone by.
Why doesn't each house reveal come with a video from someone in the department standing in front of a finished set in the house talking about the attraction? Why haven't we seen any concept art or scenic samples out of the park to provide some texture and depth to these attractions we are supposed to be interested in?
The method we saw employed this year has made these unveilings seem like chores. I sincerely hope BGW marketing reevaluates this strategy moving forward.